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The Power of Feedback in Sales

I just came back from a phenomenal sales conference with my peer group, the Women Sales Pros. We have a public half-day conference and then two days of our private group learning and growing through shared expertise.

It was my privilege to be tapped for a first time session of “Cold Call Coaching” along with another pro, Lauren Bailey (LB), of Factor8 – a complete bada$$ sales trainer that coaches inside sales teams to success.

But Y’all, we were coaching sales experts. The top of the stack. Cream of the crop. Coaches and consultants with best-selling books and tremendous street cred in the sales industry.

And yet, they signed up to get feedback on their calls. Even though they are pros.

I don’t know who was more nervous. Me and LB or these brave women who recorded sales calls and submitted them to us to be played in front of their peers and then given feedback!

Their calls were all impressive in many facets – extremely qualified prospects, warm and engaging conversation, high energy, great questions, challenging standards, moving momentum towards the close. But there were also many opportunities to offer different insights, make suggestions for stronger actions, point out cues that were overlooked.

Our sales experts graciously took our feedback and made copious notes – not just from me and LB, but also from the others experts sitting in on this session. There was feedback given from trainers, practitioners, coaches, consultants, and strategists. And then there was their own assessment after listening to their own calls. That is an incredibly powerful tool, though no one looks forward to hearing themselves – they were able to self-assess the patterns and overlooked opportunities when outside of the moment.

Imagine being bold enough to open yourself up to that kind of brainpower in one room!

After the session, I asked those who had submitted calls and received feedback to share what they thought about the session. One member told me, “This should be MANDATORY for all of us! Knowing how excellent we all are – I mean, my sales skills propelled me to this point of success in my business – and to know that I sat there, blown away, taking a page full of notes and feedback . . . Wow!”

She was so compelled, in the next days, she hired her own coach to get that feedback consistently!

Another participant responded, “None of us are perfect on every call every time, no matter how long we’ve been doing it or how good we are. {Call} recordings aren’t for the manager or coach, but for the coachee. Hearing ourselves gives us the perspective to continuously improve because it takes away cognitive bias’ and gives us self-awareness. It’s so easy to miss things in the moment.”

So, how can you take advantage of getting powerful feedback and insights?

Ask for coaching – from your boss, colleague, or a peer in the same industry or role.

Hire a coach – invest in someone to push you or call you on your own BS (we can direct you here – we coach sales teams or can refer you to coaches for individuals).

Create your own group – if you’re short on funds or can’t get the investment from your company, create your own peer advisory group. Create a private Facebook group, use free video conferencing software, leverage Google Drive . . . all FREE tools that can help you build the circle of experts that will help you advance your results.

So, if even the top experts are asking to be coached, what’s stopping you?

Sales is a performance-based career. Start acting like you’re a top performer and get help improving your skills!

Until next time, stop hoping, start SELLING!

-sks

PS – Come back next week when I share the most common thread for improvement when listening to sellers’ calls!

About Post Author

Straightforward, practical and perhaps slightly cheeky, Shawn Karol Sandy's innate gift is helping people find new ways to solve old problems, unique ways to approach new problems and helping businesses re-invent themselves and their sales strategies. With Bold and Brave thought leadership and Clear Action Plans, her impact on business is Measurable and Meaningful and will lead your sales revolution to growth and revenue goals.